Mesa baseball hosted City College on Mar. 3 in their second meeting this season. Ultimately, the two teams were separated by four errors and two hits, with the Olympians on the losing end.

The teams were tied, 4-4, coming into the ninth inning. Freshman Allen Townsend was on the mound for Mesa. The entire City team stood on their feet screaming, hoping to break the young pitcher’s concentration. Townsend could not withstand the Knights and gave up the deciding run on a single. Mesa lacked the late-game heroics they needed, and the game ended 4-5.

“It was a good game,” said Mesa Coach Kevin Hazlett. “They just got one extra hit and that’s all it takes.”

The Olympians struggled early but were not thrown off of their game. City went up by two runs in the first inning due to an infield error. Sophomore pitcher Darren Gay started the game for Mesa but only pitched the first inning. The Knights continued to bat well and scored their third run off freshman Joseph Busalacchi.

Hazlett has been trying to keep opposing batters guessing by limiting the duties of his pitchers to an inning or two.

Mesa started to come to life in the fifth inning. Nico Chesterton and Zach Tanida came out swinging, ending the hitting slump. The highlight of the game went to sophomore Anthony Lopez when he tied the game, 3-3, with a homerun out to right field.

“Plain and simple, get the job done,” said Lopez. “I knew we were going to catch up to them.”

The Olympians lack experience in their roster but they make up for it with their chemistry. The players view each other as family and react to the ball as a cohesive unit on defense.

“We’ve been behind in a lot of games this year,” explained Hazlett. “They always find a way to come back. Their attitude doesn’t get down.”

The teams matched up well but it came down to execution and Mesa dropped the ball. Ninth inning, Townsend put a runner in position to score the winning run when he committed a crucial error by overthrowing second base on a pickoff play. City took advantage of the mistake and scored a run before Townsend finally struck out their last two batters.

Even with trusted hitters Boyer and Lopez at the plate, Mesa could not come through in the clutch. The loss was their second to City this season. The two teams competed in their final regular season meeting on Mar. 6.